Slayer Reign in Blood
Track listing 1. Angel of Death 04:51 2. Piece by Piece 02:02 3. Necrophobic 01:41 4. Altar of Sacrifice 02:50 5. Jesus Saves 02:55 6. Criminally Insane 02:22 7. Reborn 02:12 8. Epidemic 02:23 9. Postmortem 03:27 10. Raining Blood 04:16 Total 28:59 Review here are thousands of good albums. There are thousands of great albums, and there are loads of genuinely excellent albums. An album that’s truly 100% perfect though is quite a rare thing, an album that when listened to lacks nothing, something that makes everything else seem almost redundant. That’s the kind of album that Slayer delivered in 1986 with Reign In Blood. Metal might be home to some very arty and progressive stuff at times, but at its core it remains musicians kicking you in the teeth with the sheer power and intensity of their music. It’s not the most extreme album ever made, but arguably Reign In Blood showcases this more than any other album. This is a record that literally never lets up, and holy fuck this is a terrifying thing to behold. It begins with arguably the most savage metal riff ever written, and then the fabled Angel of Death scream is unleashed. In nearly 30 years since its release, metal has never quite managed to reach the same level of bloodcurdling mayhem that this moment does. The album could stop there and it’d warrant multiple listens, but there’s certainly more where that came from. The cornerstone of all heavy metal music is surely the riff, and Reign has more life-affirming riffs per square foot than possibly any other album, whether it be the electrifying speed of Necrophobic or Angel’s slow breakdown or Raining Blood’s infamous opening riff. Jesus Saves has about four incredible riffs before the singing even starts, in a song that lasts under three minutes. That sums up the chaotic nature of the album; each song is an absolute frenzy through a series of riffs that are torn apart as soon as they appear, and before you know it the next song’s playing. Solos are less so melodic or even constructed as they are a series of seemingly random abrasive squeals, determined to make the listener feel as on edge as possible. Tom Araya’s definitive thrash bark, spitting out lyrics ranging from Satanic worship to the Holocaust, only adds to the total sense of alarm that this album brings to the table. Dave Lombardo meanwhile seals the deal with his genre-defining performance, his sense of urgency on the staple thrash beat that propels so many of these songs making it sound more visceral than any extreme metal blast beat ever could, and his creativity also has to be applauded, such as the odd time signature pattern on Jesus Saves or that monstrous double bass fill on Angel of Death. By the time the timeless closer Raining Blood has reached its dramatic and bloody conclusion, a mere 28 minutes have passed. Those 28 minutes seem to go by in seconds, but leave a toll on your body that’s more akin to hours. This is an album, however, that’s influence far outlasted its run time. Thrash metal, the height of extremity at the time, never bettered it, and the rising extreme metal scene took Slayer’s lesson in brutality to heart. Nowadays, you can find a little piece of Slayer in everyone from Cannibal Corpse to Bullet for My Valentine. Ultimately, this is what metal is all about, an adrenaline-rush that can only be replicated by bungee-jumping, or perhaps fighting a tiger. Basically, Reign In Blood remains the definitive metal classic. Category:Thrash metal